Rockefeller Center

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving my parents and brothers flew to New York for the holiday.  Due to fog in Tulsa that morning, their flight was delayed and instead of getting in around noon, it was early evening before they made it to Kayla's apartment.  After a long day of travel not everyone was up for heading out in the city, but mom and Justin decided they would join Kayla and I for a trip to Rockefeller Center.

We walked around looking at the lights and watching the ice skaters down below.  The Christmas tree was up but surrounded by scaffolding, so we couldn't see it, but there were plenty of other holiday lights and decorations to enjoy.  We browsed in the stores that were open and window shopped those that were closed for the evening.  This was Justin's first trip to NYC, it was so much fun to see the city through his eyes!  Here are a few sights...

My mom and I...

Justin and Kayla...

Rockefeller Center was built by the Rockefeller family.  A plaque posted in the plaza lists beliefs of John D. Rockefeller, first stated in 1941.  It's a beautiful statement worth sharing.

"I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession a duty.

I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the    

          people and not their master.

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it 

         owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

I believe that thrift is essential to well ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial 

         structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs.

I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.

I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond; that character not 

        wealth or power or position - is of supreme worth.

I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only the purifying fire of 

        sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul is set free.

I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individuals highest 

        fulfillment, greatest happiness, and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His Will.

I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will 

        triumph over might."

I am blessed by giving.

I love to give gifts.  I don't spend a lot of money...for those that have received something from me recently and thought otherwise, now you know!  I do not spend lavishly, on the contrary I spend very conservatively.  I either get good deals on the items I purchase or I get creative with my choices.  It brings me tremendous joy to purchase, wrap and give gifts to my family and friends.

I do not give anything with the expectation of getting something in return.  I give because I love seeing the smiles on the faces of those that open them.  I give because I love seeing the surprise on the face of those that receive.

For me giving takes a variety of forms.  It may be something I purchase and wrap.  It may be inviting people over for a meal.  It may be sharing things I've created with others that may be able to use them.  Whatever shape it takes, giving makes my heart happy.

I am blessed by giving.

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

When I was looking for a title for this blog post I wanted something that related to art.  I found this quote by Henry David Thoreau and I think it fits.  I told Kayla when we were walking through Central Park yesterday that I feel like different cities have different personalities.  When I think about Boston or Philadelphia I think history.  When I think of Washington DC, I think formal, power.  When I think of Seattle I think romance and free spirit.  When I think of New York, I think art.

New York City has every kind of art there is.  There are the performing arts...music, dance, theater.  There are culinary arts in bakeries, delis and restaurants.  There are textile arts in fashion and interior design.  Then there are the fine arts such as paintings, sculptures and architecture.  So far in this trip I've experienced performing art in the theater and culinary art in the restaurants.  Today I got to continue my exploration into the arts.

Today we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or The Met.  This is a picture I took of the fountains outside The Met the last time I was here.  The fountains weren't on today, but I really like this picture.  We took our lunch and ate on the steps leading to the front door of the museum.  While eating we were treated to the music of the gentlemen below.  They sang several Motown hits for the crowd assembled on the stairs.  They were selling CDs as well.  We didn't buy a CD but it did make the group more legit than the many random musicians we've seen in the subway or in front of other museums.

The Met is the largest art museum in the United States with approximately two million square feet and a length of close to 1/4 of a mile.  There are over two million permanent works of art housed at the Met with temporary exhibits that also make an appearance.  The works are from all over the world and span from ancient pieces to modern photography.  It would take hours or days to truly see everything.  We started our time in the museum today with the tour of period rooms in the American Wing.  Beginning on the third floor you can walk through history.  There are 18 rooms set up to resemble various eras in history.  From there we went to the musical instruments exhibit.  There were instruments of all types from all over the world.  We also spent time in the arms and armor exhibit and the Egyptian rooms.  Everything that we saw was amazing, you learn so much when you spend time at The Met.  Here's a picture of one exhibit from the arms and armor room.

On the way home we walked by some windows not far from Kayla's apartment building that are decorated for the holidays.  These are interior design businesses with beautifully artistic displays.  I'll leave you with a sampling of New York City holiday windows.

Vertical Living

If you spend much time in New York you will spend a lot of time going up and down stairs.  That is because this is a vertically built city.  There is no room to spread out, so everything is up and down.  Today I got to do several "Day in the Life of a New Yorker" events.  This morning Kayla needed to run to her office to pick something up to take to a client.  We walked to her office building and took the elevator to the twenty-first floor and into the office space filled with cubicles.  Kayla actually works from her home, so she doesn't have a cubicle space, but I got to meet some of her co-workers while we were there.

We walked from there to the subway to head to Grand Central Station.  It was this subway ride where it really hit me what an amazing feat of engineering this city really is.  We were about eight stories below ground riding the train.  A combination of staircases and escalators took us underground.  We took an underground walkway when we needed to change trains, probably three stories underground.  When we got to Grand Central Station this is what we saw.

I didn't take this picture, I found it on google images.  The ceiling is painted with zodiac images.  This is the main concourse.  There are several shops in the wings off of the main concourse on this level.  One level below this is where we had lunch, in the dining concourse.  I wanted to branch out and have something different, so I had a lamb gyro in a pita.  The pita was given a layer of hummus before lamb and slaw were stuffed inside.  I had lamb once when I was in England several years ago and I've had hummus before, but not a gyro in a pita.  It was very tasty!  After lunch we walked through the Holiday Fair that was set up in one of the halls.  They were all handmade items and they were gorgeous!  I wish I could have bought so many things.

From there we went to Trader Joe's in Chelsea.  Trader Joe's is a grocery store.  Groceries here can be very expensive, but Trader Joe's is one of the more affordable places to shop.  The thing about grocery shopping here is that you have you be able to carry everything that you buy.  That limits what you can buy.  We limited ourselves to four bags, two each to carry back through the subway and the four block walk to her apartment.  

After we dropped the groceries at the apartment we went to Central Park.  Kayla lives about five blocks from the east side of the park, so we went there for a stroll.  We walked through part of the Central Park Zoo to get to The Great Mall.  There are even stairs and hills in the park.  This is not a flat island!  We bought roasted nuts and sat in the cool weather to eat our snack.  It was about forty five degrees but I was comfortable.  Kayla, however, was bundled in her parka!  We are very different in what temps we enjoy.  As we were leaving the park we walked past the ice rink.  This isn't the best picture, the camera on my phone isn't great, but the white area toward the back of the picture is an ice skating rink.  Some kids were playing hockey and other people were figure skating.  It looked like so much fun, although I'm not coordinated enough to ice skate.

We took the subway from Central Park down to the lower east side to Hi Thai for dinner.  It was the first time I'd had Thai food.  Greek for lunch, Thai for dinner...it was a day of firsts!  Kayla ordered me the Chicken Pad Thai.  It was really good.  I'll have to try Thai again sometime and pick a different dish.  I'm really trying to branch out and try new things.

From Hi Thai we went to Hotel Chantelle to play Bingo.  Again with the vertical experience, we had to climb two large flights of stairs to get to the Bingo room.  We had such a great time.  It was so hilarious!  The prizes were all very silly and we laughed the entire time we were there.  I won the first round which was a pair of lanterns that light up.  One is a duck and the other is a bunny.  I had to go up on stage when I won to collect my prize.  The emcee interviewed me while I was up there.  I also won a later round and got the DVD board game for The Office and a t-shirt.  The grand prize of the evening was a jackpot of $143 dollars and several other silly prizes.  Kayla and I were both disappointed that we didn't win that prize, but we had such a good time while we were there that we got over it.

It was a great day...tomorrow it's The Met!

Movies in Manhattan

Today was movie day.  I've never before done a double feature in the theater, but that's what Kayla and I decided to do.  We had such fun seeing two fantastic movies!  We started the day with breakfast at a diner just down the block, before heading to an 11:20 showing of Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2.  Who knew you could go to the movies before noon?  Kayla had bought our tickets online last night, so we were quickly checked in.  For the first time in my life I rode an escalator in a movie theater.  We went down two floors below street level for our first movie of the day, Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2.

Kayla and I have both read the books and enjoyed them very much.  Movies are never just like the book, they can't be and I don't expect them to be.  I just expect to enjoy the movie, which I did.  It was action packed and entertaining from start to finish.  Just before the movie started we decided we wanted to make this a double feature day and watch Lincoln next.

After Twilight, we had some time to walk around so we went to a small children's bookstore, a toy and party store and then to TJ Maxx.  It was a cool but beautiful day.  I took the picture below of the Queensboro Bridge that we passed on our walk today.

After our walk we went back to the movie theater to see Lincoln.  It was a phenomenal film, of course it's a Steven Spielberg film so I would expect nothing less.  We had popcorn for lunch and sat in a packed theater for two hours, captivated by the history we were watching.  We both left with a sense of patriotism and a deeper appreciation for our freedoms.  Spielberg does a great job telling the story of the thirteenth amendment.

Tonight is a low key night with tacos and a Law and Order Marathon.  Tomorrow promises to be another full day.

Brunch and Broadway

What a fantastic day!  Kayla and I started today by sleeping late.  We didn't get up until 10:00.  Since we went to bed a little after 2:00 we were due for some extra z's.  Shortly after getting up I learned my first New York lesson of the day, apparently brunch is served here from 10:00-4:00.  We went to a great restaurant in the West Village called The Half Pint.  Here's a pic from their website.  The table on the left in the corner is the one where we sat.  It's actually known for being a beer bar but we went for their brunch menu.  Kayla enjoyed the eggs benedict and I had a mozzarella, tomato and basil omelet.  The groupon deal that we had included mimosas.  It was a fun way to start the day.

From there we walked over to SoHo and did a little shopping.  I love going to the Scholastic Store there.  Since I'm not in the classroom anymore, I don't buy many books, but I love walking through the store.  They have a huge Magic School Bus that you can walk through.  They have a fun Clifford display and a fabulous Harry Potter display that includes a lego set to build Hogwarts.  We left just before The Grinch was supposed to make an appearance, but before leaving Kayla and I made a deal.  She's going to read the Harry Potter series (which is a first for her) and I'm going to read The Hunger Games (which will be a first for me).  We left there and went to Old Navy where Kayla found some great deals and then worked our way back to the Subway to head back to her apartment.

Tonight we had reservations for dinner at Stecchino which is an Italian place in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan.  We met up with Kayla's friend Dana for the evening.  We went from there to the Snapple Theater Center where we saw a quirky play called "Perfect Crime."  We sat on the fourth row and enjoyed the play.  Most of the theater productions I've been to were musicals so this was a fun change.

The play was in the theater district which isn't far from Times Square so when the play was over we walked through Times Square and took a couple of pictures.  One drag queen approached us and asked me to take a picture of him.  It takes all kinds to make the world go round, especially in Times Square!  We worked our way to Harold's Square and Korea Town before we made it to our last stop of the evening, Ayza.  Ayza is a Wine and Chocolate bar and it was delicious!  We sat outside to enjoy warm spiced wine and a chocolate pizza topped with strawberries and bananas.

It was a perfect way to end the evening!  I'm so glad I got to spend the day with my sister.  Now for some sleep so we can get back at it tomorrow!

The Joys of Traveling

I love to travel.  Flying, driving, riding...you name it, I enjoy it.  Today I had the pleasure of traveling from Oklahoma City to New York City.  I am a planner when it comes to flying.  Here are my personal rules for flying.

1)  Do not book long trips through priceline or travelocity.

      A few years ago I booked myself and three co-workers to travel to a conference in Portland, Oregon through travelocity.  While that site may have gotten us the best fare, doing so meant four different airlines for the four flights it took us to get to and from OKC and Portland.  Changing airlines like that meant running between gates because generally speaking in large airports each major airline has their own concourse, different flights with different airlines means changing concourses which can be tricky and certainly takes time.  Depending on the airport it may also mean claiming your bags and re-checking them or having to leave a secured area, having to go through security again.  If I'm going to book a trip that requires a plane change, I book with a specific airline and so far that has allowed me to avoid some of that craziness.

2)  Do not schedule connecting flights through DFW.

       I avoid flying through Dallas Fort Worth if I can help it.  I don't mind flying and I don't get motion sickness...for the most part...but the flight from OKC to Dallas is all of thirty minutes of flight time and the plane feels a little like a tin can.  It is small so you feel every bump and it's such a fast up and down that it often makes me queasy.  That being the case, I try to fly through other cities.

3)  Schedule at least an hour between flights.

       I don't like to be rushed.  It doesn't bother me in the slightest to spend time sitting at the gate waiting to board.  I would much rather do that, than run between gates or skip a bathroom stop just to ensure I can make it to my next flight.  If at all possible I schedule at least an hour between arrival and my next departure. My preference is more like an hour and a half, because really you aren't waiting that long.

4)  Only take a carry-on that can fit under the seat in front of you.

       I don't enjoy hoisting my bag into the overhead bins and inevitably when I board there isn't space in the bin above my seat so my bag ends up someplace else on the plane.  I avoid all of that by only taking one carry-on and making sure it's small enough to go under the seat in front of me.

In my planning for this trip I broke rules number three and four.  Our boss let us go early today so I had no problem getting into the Oklahoma City airport and through security.  I don't mind security.  I try to be efficient about how I pack my things so that I don't hold up the line too much with the shoes and carry-on e-ray process, but security is there to keep me safe, so I don't get in a twist about it.  I allow plenty of time before my flight to go through the appropriate procedures, so for me security isn't a big deal.  My time in the OKC airport today was eventful only in the sense that there are some interesting people to watch.  A fellow passenger was convinced that I must be going to Germany with all of the luggage I was taking.  One gentleman got tired of waiting on the only attendant that was working to help people board so he tried to scan his own boarding pass.  He got a pretty stern look for that one.  One lady was traveling with her poodle and to keep him from being anxious on the plane she gave him medicine that made him drowsy which meant he looked a little inebriated as he was walking around before they boarded.  People watching is always so much fun.

Because I had broken rule number four and had a roller bag to go with my backpack as carry-ons I had to do a valet check for the roller bag.  Oklahoma City pretty well has all connection flights which means that the planes are small and the overhead bins cannot hold roller bags.  The airline employee then gives you a gate check tag for you to use.  You drop your bag at the end of the jetway as you board and you should be able to pick it up when you deplane.  Tonight when I got to Detroit, this gate check business caused me a major problem.

I only had 45 minutes between flights tonight, I broke rule number three.  As I deplaned in Detroit I also had to wait on my gate checked bag.  It should be a pretty quick turn around for you to get your bag, but for whatever reason that wait this evening was about fifteen minutes.  The other issue that cause a problem for me was that I got off the plane at gate B5 and had to go to gate A75 to make my connection.  That is gate 75 out of a possible 78 in Concourse A.  It's a long walk let me tell you!  While there are escalators and moving sidewalks to assist you, it's still a long walk.  What I discovered as I approached gate A70...after hoofing it for all that way...was that there is a tram at the Detriot airport.  I was more concerned about remembering my flight and gate number than I was about finding the fastest way to get there and ultimately it cost me because I essentially jogged between gates.  You know me well enough to know that I don't jog, but by golly I wasn't going to miss that plane!

My last flight was interesting because I sat next to two sixteen year old boys who are students at the Interlochen School of Dance, which is a boarding school in Michigan.  They were very polite and kind throughout the trip.  One of the two is from Connecticut and was coming home for Thanksgiving break.  The other is from Denmark and he was visiting the Connecticut family for the holiday.  We got into a conversation about the origin of Thanksgiving and the must do's in NYC.  I'm sure they will enjoy their time here.

I am exhausted myself and am going to call it a night.  It's just after 2:00 in the morning and I know that I have many more adventures tomorrow.  I loved getting to hug my sister's neck and laugh at a Friends re-run while we planned our day for tomorrow.  My vacation is just beginning!!

On the road again

I love watching the CMAs.  As a country music fan, it's exciting for me to watch the performances, awards and banter among the stars.  I don't always agree with the award winners, but I enjoy the show.  I sing along at the top of my lungs and laugh out loud at the carefully crafted jokes that walk a fine line of appropriateness.  In last week's award show Willie Nelson was recognized for his lifetime achievement in country music.  The tribute to him was so much fun to watch and hearing him sing "On the Road Again" made me smile.  When we were kids and my parents loaded us and all of our stuff in the van to head to my grandparents' house, "On the Road Again" was part of the beginning of our trip.

This week I actually was able to get on the road again.  After a week of transmission issues and a car in the shop I was able to get back to my school visits on Wednesday.  It was a busy three days trying to fit everything in that I missed last week, but I loved it!  I told my mom I took the long way around to a couple of places just because I could.

Next week I hit the road in a different direction.  On Sunday I leave for my monthly Oklahoma City trip.  Five days of training with a team that I get to know and love more every time I'm down there.  You can't help but bond when you spend all day in a small room, sitting almost on top of each other, eating every meal together and sleeping down the hall from each other for five days every three weeks.

Friday however I begin my vacation.  Friday I fly out of Oklahoma City and head to New York City.  It's been a little over a year since I was there last and I've only been in the summer so far, this will be my first cold weather trip.  I am so excited!  I get to spend four days with my sister before my parents and brothers fly up to join us so that we can all spend Thanksgiving together.  I even get to have my birthday in the Big Apple.  I've not been big on celebrating my birthday in recent years, but who isn't excited to celebrate their birthday in the city that never sleeps?   Given the recent weather challenges that area has had, I'm not sure what kind of plans we'll have to change but the time with my family will be fun regardless.  One of my goals while I'm there this time is to go to the Roosevelt Presidential Library.  I told you back in the spring that I would like to visit every presidential library and this would be my fourth of the thirteen in existence.  Several to go still, but I'm hoping to get to see one in about a week.  We can take a train out of New York to get to Hyde Park.  I've never ridden a train like that before so that in and of itself would be exciting!  I've ridden subways in several cities, but I don't count those as a train like this one.

However it works out, I'm looking forward to having sister time and family time for a whole week!!  My posts will definitely become more frequent while I'm traveling.  It's a new journey!

** Picture from Google Images.

The Green Eyed Monster

If I were to identify something that I struggling with daily it would be envy.  It is not my only struggle but it is my constant struggle.  In an article that I found online author Joseph Epstein is writing about the seven deadly sins and he has this to say about envy:

"Surely it is the one that people are least likely to want to own up to, for to do so is to admit that one is probably ungenerous, mean, small-hearted."

I agree completely!  To admit that I envy those around me makes me seem ungrateful for what I have or what I am and I certainly don't want that to be the case.  I am grateful.  I know that I am blessed in many areas of my life.  Yet when I step back and look at my life as compared to the lives of others, the green eyed monster flares inside.  Epstein also writes:

Is envy a "feeling," an "emotion," a "sin," a "temperamental disposition," or a "world-view"? Might it also be a Rorschach test: Tell what you envy, and you reveal a great deal about yourself. It can be all of these things--and more. No one would doubt that, whatever else it is, envy is certainly a charged, indeed a supercharged, word: One of the few words left in the English language that retains the power to scandalize. Most of us could still sleep decently if accused of any of the other six deadly sins; but to be accused of envy would be seriously distressing, so clearly does such an accusation go directly to character. The other deadly sins, though all have the disapproval of religion, do not so thoroughly, so deeply demean, diminish, and disqualify a person. Not the least of its stigmata is the pettiness implicit in envy.

What I hope is that you were unaware of this struggle until you read this post, because that would suggest to me that I am able to overcome the depth of these emotions and not allow them to effect my relationships with those around me.  I am not comfortable revealing what it is that I covet.  I realize will cause you to speculate on your own.  I'm willing to weather the speculation to keep that to myself.  I'd like to ask however that you join my prayers.

I pray daily that God give me the strength and confidence not to envy those around me.  I pray that He strengthens my character and improves my vision so that the things I covet move out of my line of sight so that I might see Him more clearly.  I also pray that God helps me be kind to myself throughout my struggle.  I am incredibly unforgiving of my flaws.  I do not allow myself room for error or grace for the times that I falter.  I pray I can better acknowledge His grace as I attempt to work through this struggle.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Epstein, J. (2003).  "The green-eyed monster: Envy is nothing to be jealous of." Retreived November 5, 2012 from http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0307.epstein.html.

All Questions...No Answers

I've rolled several blog post ideas around in my head over the last couple of weeks.  It's been over two weeks since I've written anything.  There are a variety of reasons for that and I've not resolved in my head if they are reasons that I will share in this forum.  I will say however, that as I've tried to think of things that I could write about that would reflect where I am personally and perhaps challenge you to consider things differently, I keep circling back to questions that have no answers.  So tonight, in my sleeplessness, I've chosen to share those questions with you, perhaps you'll have some answers.  If not, then perhaps I've given you something to think about.

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."  Luke 12:48

This verse has been running through my head daily for the last few weeks.  Our preacher at church a few weeks ago cautioned us about taking individual scriptures out of context and attempting to apply it to our lives or circumstance.  I'm throwing caution to the wind and doing exactly what he cautioned against.  I know there is a context here that I am not considering, I'm choosing to put that fact aside for a minute.  

Considering the truth of this statement, is the converse also true?  For those to whom much is given, much will be required...does that mean those that aren't given much do not have many expectations?  

How does one go about defining "much"?  Everyone who has been given "much."  "Much" what?  Possessions?  Money?  Time?  Talent?  I believe in the context of the parable "much" refers to possessions, but it is a parable and therefore would have multiple meanings, would it not?

So then that begs the question are blessings relative?  If I take stock of what I might have "much" of, I would not necessarily consider my possessions to be "much" but I know there are others with less than I.  I do not consider myself to have much money, yet I know there are others who struggle more than I.  The same for time or talent.  Does that make blessings relative?  If blessings and "much" are relative, what then can be the expectation?

When I was at the eye doctor a couple of weeks ago one of his questions to me was, are you a perfectionist?  I immediately answered, yes.  My second thought was, I wonder why he asked me that.  He went on to explain that my personality type was such that I would not tolerate unclear vision.  He said, there are some people who don't seem to care if their vision is clear or not, however you as a perfectionist, need everything to be clear.  Now while he was referring specifically to my vision, there is a bigger application as well.  I want things to be clear and I am frustrated when they are not.  I told one of my co-workers last week, I will gladly play by whatever rules are set, but I want to know the rules.  In this case, I want to know the expectation.  Am I a person with "much" of whom much will be required?

That being said, I'm not trying to determine the expectation because I want to mark something off a checklist or do just enough to get by.  That has never been part of my personality, I'm an over-achiever.  That's not something I publicly own very often, but there you go.  I'm an over-achiever.  I wonder if there are OAA meetings or something?  You know...Over-Achievers Anonymous?  I'm quite certain I need professional assistance to ever become okay with just achieving.  But I digress...

Am I a person with "much" of whom much is required?  If I am, I guarantee I am not living up to those expectations.  We were asked tonight in life group what we wanted to be when we grew up.  What plans did we have for ourselves that we set out to achieve and how did we see God acting in those plans.  I told the story of my professional career.  I've posted it here before, but here's the short version.  I started college saying I'd never teach.  I majored in elementary education.  I said I'd never teach below middle school.  I student taught in second grade.  I said I'd never teach students younger than second grade.  My first job was full day kindergarten.  I said I'd never teach younger than kindergarten.  I taught preschool during grad school.  I said I'd never teach special education.  I have a degree to work with struggling students.  I said I'd never work for the state department of education.  I currently work for the state department of education.

If you had asked me ten years ago where I would be at this moment, I would never have come up with the situation I'm in.  The desires I remember having are not currently a part of my life story.  My story is still being written, so things may change.  Where I struggle is, if I'm not one with "much," why am I not?  Does that even make sense?  Let me try again...depending on how you define "much," I am not one with "much."  If the converse of the verse is true, that those without "much" would therefore not have much required, would that then mean that not much is required of me?  If not much is required of me, why is that?

When I talk to teachers about their expectations for students, inevitably there are one or two (if not more) for whom that teacher does not have high expectations.  There are varying reasons for low expectations...that is for another posting...but I wonder...am I that student?  Am I someone for whom there are low expectations, and if so, why?

I warned you with the title that there are all questions and no answers, certainly no easy ones.  I've wrestled with these questions and this circular thinking for the last couple of weeks.  I imagine it is something I'll wrestle with for some time to come.  That wrestling in and of itself probably suggests a faith issue within myself that needs to be addressed.  Maybe I'll circle around that one too....

Breathing a Sigh of Relief

I had an appointment this morning at Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma City with Dr. Farris to get more information about my vision problems.  My parents drove down from Tulsa to go to the appointment with me.  Overall this evening I am relieved with the results.  To best explain the outcome I want to start with what the problem isn't.  It isn't a tumor, that was evident in my MRI.  It isn't a neurological disease or disorder, my brain is healthy.  It isn't a problem with my optic nerve, there is no indication of inflammation or disease.  It isn't an eye disease that will cause me to lose my eyesight, I will not become blind because of this.

So if all of those things are true, then what is it you ask?  I have an ocular surface disease.  There are a few things at play here.  First, there is a mucous membrane on the surface of your eye, the function of which (among other things) is to provide clarity of vision.  My membrane is 1/3 the thickness that it should be, so if a normal membrane is 100% mine is 30% in thickness.  Second, there are goblet cells in the eye, the function of which is to secrete an oil that combines with the water created by your tear ducts that lubricates and supports that mucous membrane.  I have a low count of those cells which means that my eyes routinely do not get the kind of lubrication necessary for clear vision.  I am creating enough tears, but the goblet cells are required for sustained lubrication and that is something I am missing.

In addition to those two things specific to my eye, I also have some rosatia around my eyes and some veining on the sides of my nose (where my glasses rest) that the doctor said is typically seen in 50-60 year old patients, rather than in someone my age.  This time last year, I had a a very bad case of eczema also around my eyes.  If you saw me at all during that time I literally looked like a raccoon.  Steroids corrected the problem over a couple of weeks and it has not returned since.  All three of these things...rosatia, eczema and ocular surface disease...indicate the presence of an autoimmune condition.

There is no cure for my eye condition.  I cannot regrow a mucous membrane or increase my goblet cell production.  What I can do is learn to manage my symptoms so that my vision improves and that includes a three part treatment plan.  First, I have an oral prescription that I will take daily for the next six months for sure, probably longer.  Second, today the doctor placed punctal plugs in my tear ducts.  Using a mirror, if you pull down your bottom eyelid and look toward your nose, you should see a small hole that looks like a pin prick.  You have one in each eye on the bottom and one in each eye on the top, for a total of four.  One way to treat my lubrication problem is to plug those holes so that the lubrication that my eyes can make naturally doesn't drain out.  Today, Dr. Farris placed silicon plugs in my lower ducts.  They feel a little funny right now, I know eventually I'll get to where I don't feel them, but for now it's kind of like a contact lens or a grain of sand I can't get rid of.  They can be removed or I could accidentally rub them out if I rub my eyes too hard, so I have to get used to not rubbing my eyes.  (Tough to do by the way when it's a foreign object around your eye!)  If I do accidentally rub them out they can easily be replaced.  The third part of my treatment plan is regular use of eye drops, up to ten times daily.  There is a specific drop that I can buy over the counter that is specifically for someone with the goblet cell condition that I have.  Not all drops do the same things, but luckily at this point I do not need prescription drops, there is an over the counter option.

As the doctor pointed out today, my career choice and hobby of reading create a visual challenge that other people might not face.  Because I spend a lot of time focusing on text or a computer screen, diminished clarity impacts me in a significant way.  That being the case it is important for me to follow this treatment plan to restore clarity to my vision.  I'm currently in a chronic stage with this problem but by following the treatment plan I should get to a more manageable place.  Unless I have a major setback or emergency, I will not have to go back to Dean McGee, my local doctor will be able to handle future treatment.  I've been told to give the treatment plan three months before making any changes to it, such as adding plugs in my upper ducts if I haven't made sufficient improvement.

When I went to bed last night I was trying to mentally prepare myself for the worst case scenario of permanently losing my vision, a tumor or disease that would require surgery or some other equally serious diagnosis.  I am relieved tonight that it is a manageable condition.  It is something I will deal with it for the rest of my life and the investigation into an autoimmune condition is just beginning.  Additional testing with an internist may be necessary to determine the extent of my condition and any additional systems or organs that may be effected.  I thank you, and my parents thank you, from the bottom of our hearts for all of your prayers and support throughout these times of living with the unknown.  I still have hurdles...I will continue to limit how much I read and I will not be able to drive at night until I get my clarity back, but I have a plan that will hopefully get me there.

At the end of my appointment today Dr. Farris asked if he could pray with me and very eloquently asked the Lord to heal me and bless me on my road to recovery.  His prayer collectively with your prayers have allowed me to feel safe, loved and supported.  Thank you.

Breaking My Own Rule

I've broken my own rule in the last couple of weeks.  I have never been one to read more than one book at a time.  I start a book and finish it before starting another.  I do the same thing with magazines.  I even eat that way...one thing at a time.  I've broken that rule in the last couple of weeks however, by starting multiple books.  I read a couple of novels in one weekend for pleasure, but everything I'm reading right now is professional material.  Here's the run down...

If you read my blog for educators this week, I talked about this book Annual Growth For All Students; Catch-up Growth For Those Who Are Behind by Lynn Fielding, Nancy Kerr and Paul Rosier.  It is the study of an elementary school in Washington that had a large number of students struggling to meet state benchmarks and how they turned things around.  It was recommended by one of my literacy trainers as well as a teammate.  According to the American Legislative Exchange Council Oklahoma is 43rd in the national in educational performance.  Other reports list Oklahoma as slightly higher or lower if you look at specific subgroups, subjects or other educational factors.  While there are pockets of very successful districts in our state, the state as a whole is not performing as well as we could.  We have excellent potential, but we need to make some changes.  This book offers a unique perspective to making needed change.

Coaching for Balance:  How to Meet the Challenges of Literacy Coaching by Jan Miller Burkins is one of the first literacy coaching books that I bought a few years ago when I knew I wanted to pursue this as a career path.  It's also one of the first books about literacy coaching that was written by an active literacy coach.  I'm not very far into this one yet, but the practical suggestions that it provides for me in this new role are very helpful.  There are parts of it that reinforce what I already knew, and other parts that challenge me to think differently about some things.

(Hopefully this image isn't too blurry!)

This is another book that I received from my training trip to Oklahoma City, MAX Teaching with Reading and Writing:  Classroom Activities for Helping Students Learn New Subject Matter While Acquiring Literacy Skills.  It is written by a career teacher, Dr. Mark Forget, with activities for how to teach content such as science and social studies while also including literacy instruction.  I have a fifth grade teacher that has asked me specifically for these kinds of ideas.  In addition this type of integration is what Common Core State Standards are asking teachers to do.

This book is the one I will begin in the morning.  Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink was recommended by the same trainer that recommended Annual Growth.  I recently purchased a subscription to audible.com so that I can download books to listen to while I'm driving.  Tomorrow I have two and a half hours in the car (round trip) so I thought it was a perfect time to start this one.

As I've said before there are so many books and so little time!  I'm hoping with audible.com I can make my drive time more productive and entertaining, as well as being a good solution to my current vision issues.  I don't usually read (or listen to) more than one book at a time because I can't always make the mental leap from one to the other.  I've discovered it's a little easier to make these leaps because they are nonfiction rather than fiction.  There's no chance that I'm going to confuse characters or story lines with these texts.  

If you have other text recommendations for me feel free to let me know, Drive is six hours worth of listening and with my schedule being what it is this week, I'll be done with it by noon on Thursday.  I'll need a new audio book before the week is out!  What are you reading?

Home Away from Home

I'm back in Oklahoma City in what has become my home away from home.  I know more of my teammates names, can mostly find my way around and am a better traveler than the first time I was here.  For my training weeks, I drive to OKC on Sunday afternoon and check into my hotel and will check out on Friday morning.  The first week I was here, there were some problems with the place that we stayed.  I personally didn't experience any problems, but my teammates did so we've moved hotels but we've been told we'll be here all year.  It's nice to be coming to the same place every time.  I told my dad today I've gotten better at being mobile.  Other than the wide range of materials and supplies that are constantly present in my car, I have a set of items that I bring with me for the hotel.  Things like a portable laundry hamper, night light and power strip are all part of my kit.  Between two computers, two cell phones, my GPS and my iPad, there are no shortage of electronics that I charge regularly.  At home I can spread those out around various rooms, here the power strip is a must have!

Here are some pics of my home away from home...

This is the view as you walk in the door.  I have a two room suite.  This weekend has included a lot of catch-up work for me and this evening was no exception, I've obviously already made good use of the desk and chair trying to sort some papers and files.

This room opens to the interior of the building so on the other side of those curtains is a view of the lobby.  I'm actually on the second floor this time so it's a distant view.

My living area includes a nice flat screen television as well as a fridge and microwave.  I made sure to bring a couple of snacks with me this time.  All of our meals are provided, which includes dinner.  Dinner however, is served at 4:00 so it's nice to have a snack for the evening if I want one.  My briefcase and purse are already packed for tomorrow morning and waiting by the door.  Since I have to leave each morning a little before 7:00 I try to be organized the night before.

I have a king size bed and lots of pillows which I like.  Typically I have a book on the night stand, but I haven't unpacked it yet.  My training days require so much concentration and focus that I don't usually have the mental capacity to work when I get out of class.  Unless I have assignments (which will likely be the case this week) I try to do some reading for pleasure in the evenings.  I brought a couple of new novels this week that I'm excited about.  I posted on facebook recently that spending a lot of time focusing and reading during the day keeps me from being able to do that at night.  Too much reading strains my vision.  However, my classes are just listening, so I'm hoping my vision holds up for evening reading.

I have a smaller television and coffee pot in my bedroom.  There is also a continental breakfast where I can get a cup of coffee, so I don't typically make any in here.  Breakfast is served as part of my meetings, but it's nice to have a cup of coffee when you're up that early!  I use the dresser to hold my jewelry (you can see it to the right of the TV), but all of my clothes are in the closet area.  I didn't take a pic of that, but I'm sure you can imagine.  It's a small walk in where the luggage rack holds my suitcase and the clothing bar holds my hang ups.  My laundry hamper and the iron and ironing board that's provided are also in there.

My Sunday evenings here are quiet.  It's time for me to get settled and set up for the week, catch up on some work, or read for pleasure.  My work yesterday and today are things that I would normally spend office time doing.  In the last two weeks however, Carri and I have had very little office time.  During lunch on Friday we decided that perhaps it's time for us to split up to better meet the needs of our districts.  We had said from the beginning that we would stay together as long as possible, but it's getting impossible.  I drove 2,025 miles in the last month.  We've been on the road four or five days a week.  I love our road time and I'm getting ready to invest in audible.com so that I can multitask during some of my drive time, but that much time on the road means office work is done after hours or on weekends and that's exhausting.  Splitting up and only going to our designated districts, instead of trying to go everywhere together will free us up for more office time. 

Our first week we were at the capital, the second week we were at the National Guard Regional Training Center, this week our classes are at the State Department of Education office building which is in the capital complex.  I'm a little nervous this time though and I'm not sure exactly why.  Maybe my nerves will settle when I see everyone tomorrow and get back in the grove of training.  This week promises to be packed with learning, I'm determined to have a great week!

Vision Issues: No Improvement, New Theory

It's been a while since I've written.  I told myself when I started this blog, that my first goal was to write something worth reading.  I've fallen into a rhythm with my job in the last couple of weeks, which doesn't lend itself to interesting blog posts, so I've refrained from writing.  Today however, I went to the eye doctor for another check up and thought I should update you about my continuing vision issues.

First I should tell you, if I haven't already, that I love my eye doctor.  He is incredibly thorough, goes above and beyond (often calling me at home on weekends just to see how I'm doing) and doesn't hesitate to refer to me to someone else if he runs into something he can't solve.  This isn't the first time that he's referred me to someone else, but it is the first time that the referral is due to severity of condition.

They did a basic eye screening today and again he attempted to refract with lenses to give me clear vision.  Like the last ever how many visits I've had (I've lost count at this point) he was unable to find a strong enough lens.  Without glasses and covering my left eye, I cannot read the top line of letters on the chart.  With the strongest lens he can put in front of my right eye, I can read the top line, but the letters are not clear.  He said right now I'm testing around 20/40 and 20/50, but again, nothing is clear.

It is taking increasingly more effort for me to focus to see.  Seeing or reading at a distance is a bigger problem than up close.  The amount of light can cause difficulty too.  It's better right now if I don't drive at night, which I discovered a couple of weeks ago when I drove home from Tulsa, completely in the dark, and had a horrible headache by the time I got home.  After working to see and focus, I almost always have a headache and recently I've begun having a swollen or throbbing sensation in my right eye.  When I explained these symptoms to my doctor today he said the throbbing and swollen feeling is due to overworking my eye muscles.  It's probably not actually swollen, but it is overworked and therefore feels that way.

The new theory is that I have a pseudo-tumor on my optic nerve.  A pseudo-tumor in that area is caused by a lack of pressure of the cerebral spinal fluid in my brain.  He said the optic nerve itself does not look inflamed but that the fiber is very thick.  A problem with spinal fluid pressure would not show up on an MRI.  Based on this information and all of the other tests that I've been through to this point, my doctor predicts that when I go to the Dean McGee Eye Institute in three and a half weeks they will do a spinal tap to assess the pressure situation.  Certainly what actually happens when I go to Dean McGee will be up to the doctor there, but this is theory that makes the most sense at this point given the pieces of the puzzle that I currently have.

When I texted some of my family members and close friends this morning after the appointment several of them asked me how I felt about this new possibility.  My response was that I'm mostly sad.  While I should probably be pleased that I have a direction to go and some possible treatment options on the horizon, it's difficult to hear the words, tumor and brain in the same sentence pertaining to you...even if it is pseudo.  I know that part of my reaction of tears this morning came from the fact that it's been an exhausting week, and I was already on the verge.  A tough conversation with my doctor just pushed me over the edge.  For the next three weeks, I'll limit my night time driving, take more breaks from concentrated efforts to see and continue to take Tylenol regularly to control the nagging headache that's constantly there.  I'll find my balance again and be thankful for the "it's not as bad as it could be" situation later, but that's not where I am today.

It's football season!!

Tomorrow is the first Saturday of this season of college football and I'm excited.  I have many memories at which football is the center.  I grew up attending Arkansas Razorbacks games with my grandfather.  In fact I've been to more U of A sporting events than any other school, including the ones I've attended.  I remember going to OU's media day as a kid and being excited that I had my picture taken with then quarterback Cale Gundy.  I went to high school in Alabama, which is in many ways the football capital of the south.  (No offense intended to my friends in other southern states.)  I spent every Friday night of football season in my high school band at the game.

My varied experience with and love of football makes me a fan of the game, before I'm a fan of a specific team.  My philosophy is the same about professional sports, I'm a fan of the game or specific players before a specific team.  My television will be tuned in to whatever game I can get every Saturday between now and the end of the season.

I will always pull for my alma mater first.  I love to watch OSU football games and yes, I will pull for them over OU during Bedlam.  Outside of that however, my allegiance is mixed.  These are kids.  I think that really hit after I spent time as an adjunct instructor for OSU.  These are kids playing a game that in a lot of ways our society has turned into a business.  I understand the financial aspect of the college football industry, but I don't let that influence my allegiance as a fan.

My facebook posts will likely include RTR (Roll Tide Roll), War Eagle, WPS (Whoo Pig Sooie), Boomer Sooner and Go Pokes throughout various times of the season.  Hey...you might even see a Gig 'Em once or twice.  That's because I love the game.  I don't trash other teams or conferences.  I don't root for teams to lose or players to be injured.  That's just wrong, on so many levels.

I'll make chili, pop popcorn and indulge in other tailgate food throughout the season, hopefully with friends and family, in the spirit of enjoying the game.  I'm ready for football!!

A Medical Update

I told you a few weeks ago that I was having vision issues and that I was going to have tests and such, but I never came back and explained any more.  I've had a few questions recently so I thought I should tell you what's going on.  The vision issues in my right eye, coupled with a variety of additional symptoms suggested that have MS.  My doctor decided to pursue that avenue first and a few weeks ago I went in for an MRI of my brain.  This was about two weeks after I had moved to Enid.

I went back to Stillwater for the MRI and it came back having no abnormalities.  To get a second opinion I had my results and scans sent to my friend Liz who is a neurologist in Wyoming.  She said my brain is good and there is no indication of MS, which I'm told can be seen clearly on an MRI if is it present.  So that was good, but it still leaves me with vision problems.  Because everything on the front part of my eye is healthy and normal, my doctor believes that the problem is with my optic nerve, which is why MS was a consideration.  Optic neuritis is often found in MS patients.  While that is ruled out, the problem with my nerve still has not been identified.  I am scheduled to see a neuro-opthamologist in Oklahoma City in the month of October.  In the mean time I have periodic follow-up appointments with my optometrist to monitor any changes in my eye sight.

I still am working on losing weight just because it's an important thing to do.  I fell off the wagon (so to speak) a week or so ago, so I'm working to climb back on, but overall at this point I've lost 12 pounds.  Still have more to go of course, but hopefully I can get back on track soon.

For those that have asked, I appreciate your thoughtfulness and prayers.

Song of the Summer

For me, one of the best things about summer is the music that pumps through the speakers.  I remember specific summers in high school by the music that blared out of my little red Ford Tempo's windows.  I vividly remember my friend Jennifer and I cruising the streets of Huntsville, AL singing along with the Fugees and TLC at the top of our lungs.  This summer Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe was the song of the summer for a lot of people.  It took over youtube and inspired athletes to dance.  Definitely a catchy tune that makes listeners want to move their feet, but for me, the song of the summer is a much slower song by Thompson Square.  Much like Kelly Clarkson's Stronger the story of the entire song doesn't apply to my circumstance.  The song is about taking a chance on a romantic relationship, which doesn't apply to me.  But if I take the relationship part of it out and consider that it's about taking chances in general, the message does apply to me.  I love the chorus...

We may shine, we may shatter

We may be pickin' up the pieces here on after

We are fragile, we are human

We are shaped by the light we let through us

But we break fast, cause we are glass.

When I was a kid, I remember going to Frontier City in Oklahoma City.  One of the first buildings you used to walk past was the glassblower.  You could watch through the window as he or she used heat and air to create figurines.  I was mesmerized by the process occurring through the window.  In high school chemistry I got my chance to work with heat and glass.  My junior year, I remember having a lab in which we were supposed  to make a right angle out of a short tube of glass.  I didn't do well on that assignment because my glass didn't make a perfect right angle and when cooled and laid flat on the counter, one end was higher than the other causing the piece to be unbalanced.  I remember being thankful that I got any grade at all however, because several students dropped their glass, shattering it, and getting an F for the project.

With cooler temperatures today, the true mark of fall, college football, just two weeks away and school either already having started or starting this week, today has felt more like fall.  It has prompted me to spend a good bit of time today reflecting on my summer.  I took a lot of chances and made a lot of changes at a time that they had to happen, but that I was probably too fragile to make them happen.  My choice to share myself in this forum added transparency to that fragility and I've felt a lot like glass.  At times I want to tell people, "be gentle...I'm fragile."  But at the same time, too much fragility suggests weakness and it's taken a lot of strength to turn my life upside down the way that I have this summer.

I'm beginning to shine, although I may still shatter.  I'm still picking up pieces from before.  I'm still fragile, I'm definitely human.  I am allowing myself to be shaped by God's light that moves through me.  I'm still glass, but  am transitioning from being the small figurine variety to the bullet proof variety.  I've done a better job with that transition in my professional life than anywhere else.  I'm still fragile when it comes to my personal and spiritual life, that's going to take time and most of the time it's a day to day thing.  The difference between now and six months ago, however, is that now I have faith that I'll survive a shatter.

I'm not bowing to challenges!

"A challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it."

- Ray Davis

My week has been full of challenges!  If you've read my facebook posts, you know that my Monday morning started out with an encounter with a horse.  I was unloading my car in front of the school where we were presenting and had my back to Main street.  My partner says, "Huh, look at that."  I turned around in time to find myself face to face with a saddled horse that was missing its rider.  I was so startled that I screamed and the horse took off at a trot down Main Street.  About thirty seconds later a woman on a bicycle, talking on her cell phone came riding behind the horse clearly trying to catch the run away.  It was a hilarious sight and it made my morning!

This week was full of back to back presentations.  Each presentation began with the basics of Common Core State Standards and was followed by personalization requested by the local administration.  We presented how to use and design rubrics, how to apply cognitive learning theory in the classroom and how to reflect on the types of questions we ask students to answer.  Every stop presented its own challenges.  We had a web-based video that was a part of our presentation, but that didn't always work out, either because of firewalls, filters or a lack of audio equipment.  In one place we didn't have any AV capability so powerpoint was not an option at all.  We missed an entire presentation one afternoon due to my flat tire.  Wednesday afternoon dealt us our biggest challenge however, because that was the day my partner fell.

My partner and I have gone everywhere together.  It's worked out very well that we've been able to stay together, because there are other coaching partnerships that have not had that capability.  We've been able to prep together, speak together and clean up together.  On Wednesday Carri fell and fractured her elbow which meant I had to fly solo Thursday morning.

I got to our Thursday location and had a new set of challenges.  We design our presentations to be interactive and to include engaging activities in the midst of the time we spend talking.  One of the activities required inflated balloons, which were in my partners car, so I swung by the store on the way to the school to pick up a package of balloons that I needed to blow up before starting.  As I set up the room for my presentation things were going pretty smoothly until I plugged my jump drive into the computer and I had used a newer version of powerpoint than was available on this computer.  We'd presented in several places before this and hadn't run into that so I didn't expect to run into it there, but one of the faculty members graciously volunteered to convert it for me.  As all conversions go however, it wasn't totally smooth.  The conversion deleted graphics, changed animation and jumbled slides.  A few other minor challenges presented themselves throughout the three hour presentation, but overall I felt as though it went well.

I told Carri earlier this week that this job does not feel like work.  I log just as many hours as I did before, but I love my job so much that it is an absolute joy to work.  I found my niche!  I've found that place where I feel like I was meant to be.  I have a great partner and we're part of a great team around this state.  We're on the cutting edge of something big in this state.  I can't wait to see what comes next...challenges and all!

Tuesday is NOT my day for cars!!

Two weeks ago (on a Tuesday) in Oklahoma City my car decided not to start and thanks to my cousin coming to the rescue I was able to get the car to Auto Zone and put in a new battery.  Today it was my tire.

My partner and I had a tight schedule today.  We left one city at 11:30 and had to be in another city at 12:30 and the drive in between was about 40 minutes.  As we were packing my car to leave our first stop it began to rain.  Thank goodness for the rain because we definitely need it!  Since we had a little bit of time, we decided to stop at Pizza Hut and have the salad bar for lunch.  By the time we left after eating, the rain was coming down in a steady downpour.  It wasn't storming, but just a good soaking rain.  Somewhere between our lunch stop and twenty minutes down the road, I managed to get a flat tire.

I've changed flats before.  I've even changed a flat in dress clothes before, but it's been a while.  Since we weren't going to make it to our next stop on time, my partner called to tell them of our trouble.  The secretary said she would get in touch with their transportation person and have him come help us.  We were only five miles away so they weren't going to have to come far to find us.  Not to mention it was a two lane highway and we were the only stopped vehicle around...finding us wasn't going to be a hardship.  Since help was on the way, I got out and started rearranging the stuff in the back of the car so that I could get to the spare.  It had rained long enough and was continuing to rain so I was getting quite wet and my shoes (which I may have to consider trashing) were sinking in the very squishy mud.

While waiting on the transportation person from the school district that was waiting on us to come speak to them, a gentleman who works for Alfalfa County drove up behind us and asked if we needed help.  I told him that we had called someone but that I wasn't sure when they were going to be there exactly so I was trying to get to my spare.  He kindly changed my tire in the rain.  I stood watching him, thankful that he was willing to help.  I am capable of changing a tire, but not as practiced as some so it probably would have taken me longer than it took our Good Samaritan.  We were close to in business, he was lowering the jack, my partner was telling the district that we would be there by 1:30 and then the other shoe dropped.  My spare was flat. I've never had a flat tire on this car before.  The jack and spare were being used for the first time today, but that doughnut sure was missing some air!!

So it was Good Samaritan to the rescue again.  He called the County Commissioner for Alfalfa County to see about sending someone out with an air compressor.  It just so happens that my partner is married to one of the County Commissioners for Garfield County, so when the Alfalfa County Commissioner found out a colleague's wife was on the side of the road there was a little heckling, but he very promptly sent us a second gentleman who kindly filled my spare with air.

When my partner told the administrator that was waiting on us that the spare was flat he said...sounds like you girls should just work out your problems, we can re-schedule.  We felt really badly about the missed engagement, but it wasn't something we could help.  The school was understanding and we certainly appreciate that.  By the time we drove away from our tire changing spot, we were both pretty soaked and my shoes and feet were muddy.  We made it back to town, going forty miles an hour, and I took my car in to Hibdon to have them see about possibly repairing or if needed replacing my tire.

We were only alone on the side of the road for a few minutes before our first Good Samaritan arrived.  I am blessed to have the skills to deal with problems like that, but I'm also blessed to live in a place where citizens are ready to help.  I've learned a lot about the position of County Commissioner in the last few weeks and I'm sure I'll learn more.  I also know that I'll be paying closer attention when I vote for that office now that I know what they do!

We're back on the road tomorrow, in my partner's car this time, every day is an adventure, and I wouldn't trade a single thing!  Including my rain soaked, flat tire experience!